I’ve heard the Great Wall from China also smells of urine but this was like 15 years ago, have things improved?
I spent 4 years in College Station, TX, and that was plenty. We hosted some great science fiction conventions, however.
When you are sent to Sao Paolo you can spend weekend in Rio. Just plan ahead. You can fly out of the airport in the city center and return to the International airport to catch your flight back to US.
I was there in March of 2014 and it didn’t smell. It was a lot of fun to walk and I had no idea that it was really a climb - I thought it was going to be an easy walk and it was quite the cardio experience, rather like a continuous stairclimber!
However, there are signs that indicate, in stick figure format, um, no urinating and no defecating off the towers.
Because it’s Beijing (or at least that was where I was), naturally the smog and pollution overpowers everything. They tried to tell me that “that’s what LA was like years ago.” No. This was nothing like anything ever in the US. It’s awful. I have no lung problems / issues and I was suffering. I can’t imagine older people who are compromised or who have asthma dealing with it.
@DrGoogle It’s a big, big wall. I’m sure some parts might smell bad. The parts we saw didn’t around 5 years ago. The The hutongs in Beijing do smell in places, and it feels odd to be touring a place specifically because it is very poor.
Beijing was oddly on the clear side when we were there, but they commented on how good it was. >40 degrees C, however, so hot for our tastes. Shanghai was miserably smoggy that trip.
Definitely some photo-worthy stick figure signs in China.
I guess it all boils down to expectation. I like to be pleasantly surprised than rudely disappointed.
When I’m on vacation, it’s not just the sights that matter; the people there also matter. If the locals treat the tourists like the tourists are an annoyance (e.g. shop girls and waiters that give grudging service w an eyeroll), then I don’t care how nice the museums & boulevards are; there are MANY nice places in the world that are kind & welcoming.
In China, you may see people urinating on the street, but more often than not that’s elderly women or little children. The little children wear a type of jumpsuit that has a hole cut out and they squat and go to the bathroom. However, I didn’t see as much of that in Shanghai or Beijing as I did in smaller areas.
In India, I don’t want to even get started on the hygiene or the lack thereof, other than to say I, a person with a strong stomach, strong constitution, no health issues and a strong immune system, and a person who was diligent about not eating / drinking anything other than food from a high-end Western hotel, thought I was going to die. It’s unbelievable. It’s one of those things where I just want to roll my eyes about how “smart” the culture is because they get great scores on the math SATs and because the IIT’s are such impressive places they make MIT and Caltech look like playgrounds. Yeah, but you can’t even bring basic hygiene to your people, so I’m not impressed with those so-called smarts.
Can’t smell the Great Wall from my house.
I don’t know but my husband went outside to fix our sprinkler and he came in and asked me why the elder Chinese lady across the street spitted on her ground. I hope there aren’t a lot of that in China.
I think India has some kind of cast issue, there is a cast that handles sewage only. Perhaps there’s problem with sewage system.
My husband got stomach problem in Cancun years ago, it was from the ice.
Tblisi is small but definitely a nice place and I would go back many times for the food.
I moved to Houston in 1990 and wouldn’t move anywhere for all the gold in Fort Knox assuming there is still some there. However, I am happy to support Xiggi in badmouthing Houston because we don’t want more people moving here. 
This is simply insane.
@texaspg
There are many places I’d be content to live that I would distinguish from places to travel to to visit with previous leave days from work.
One of the most interesting parts about this great thread is the number of people who say that have not been somewhere but would not want to go? Also, kind of strange when folks find many many cities boring…
To be fair, there’s quite a bit of that in the US. 
“One of the most interesting parts about this great thread is the number of people who say that have not been somewhere but would not want to go?”
Yup. I think the OP’s title has “again” in it. 
This might be an unpopular choice, but Rome. I’ve never been so glad to leave a city. Filthy, smelly, rude.
Dallas. When did southern hospitality become southern passive aggressiveness? Hot weather, ugly city. And no, a gigantic Bass Pro Shop full of stuff I can buy on the internet does not add to quality of life, nor does a Walmart every two miles.
I love Disney World and will gladly go back. San Francisco, too.
Dominican Republic–been once, never again. Too poor, worried about getting sick and not speaking the language, did not feel safe.
Maine–reminded me of UP of Michigan (I live in the lower peninsula), so no need to visit again.
There are some countries I have no desire to visit. There are many US cities that I have visited and hope to visit again: NYC, Chicago, DC, San Francisco, Phoenix, Boston, Honolulu, Seattle, and on and on. So much to see, so little time.
I’ve been to Disneyland twice and done; Disney World 22 times, next visit spring 2016. What can I say, Mouse junkie at heart.
While I said upstream that I dislike Las Vegas, I should qualify it as referring to the touristy section. I love hiking in Red Rock Canyon in cooler weather- it is stunningly beautiful. There are a lot of interesting places to visit in the area-the downtown area just doesn’t appeal me…
At least Dallas (well really Fort Worth) has an architecturally notable art musuem.
I never expected to like LA, but I loved living there. Great collection of Spanish Colonial revival architecture and tons of mid-century modern including seminal buildings by Neutra and Schindler. It was a hot bed of new architecture in the 80s and 90s too. Lots of ethnic neighborhoods with great food. And a bunch of fine museums - especially if you go out and include the three in the Pasadena area. And there’s the beach to boot. And the Hollywood sign. And the observatory - and lots of movie locations.
“I think India has some kind of cast issue, there is a cast that handles sewage only. Perhaps there’s problem with sewage system.”
No, DrGoogle, it’s not merely about the caste system (though that does come into play somewhat). Open defecation is a cultural habit; even when latrines are built in villages, the villagers won’t use them because it’s considered more healthy to defecate outside. Even though that then means that the bacteria get into the water system and creates disease. Diarrhea there is not merely an inconvenience as it is in the west; it is life-threatening.
As for women, not only is it unsafe for them to go into the fields to relieve themselves (because men with ill intent will assault them) but sanitary protection as we know it is unknown outside the big cities; women use cloths that they then wash and hang inside (so no one can see them), so they never dry properly, and then they re-use them, which causes problems as well - I’m sure the women on CC can appreciate what a moldy, damp cloth would do to their private areas.
But oh, let’s be impressed by the IITs. Spare me. Maybe some of the brilliant minds there could actually work on improving the sanitation. It’s pretty sad that the Romans had better sanitation thousands of years ago.
The NYTimes has lots of articles on this topic, and they are so, so true. I had to learn about this for a work project and it’s mind-blowing to think about how backwards they are on this dimension. Sorry. There’s no other word for it.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/11/13/in-india-latrines-are-truly-lifesavers/